#NORDP2017 starts Monday, May 8 in Denver, CO. Keep checking back here at the blog and on our Twitter feed (@NORDP_official) for live conference updates. Register here: http://www.nordp.org/conferences.
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Who: Eileen Murphy, Ph.D., Senior Director Corporate and Foundations Relations
Where: Rutgers University
Number of years in research development: 7
Length of NORDP membership: 7
Number of NORDP conferences attended: 3 (first one was via NORDP travel scholarship – THANK YOU!)
What is the most interesting place you’ve visited? Yellowstone National Park
I, like many NORDP colleagues, discovered research development after a long career as a researcher and research manager. I switched careers from government scientist to academic administrator after my research group was dissolved due to budget cuts. The silver lining in this storm was a new career in research development. Once I embarked on this adventure, I never looked back.
Like any scientist new to a field, I searched for a professional organization where I could learn from seasoned professionals. While I had found good research administration organizations, what I really wanted was something more akin to what I was doing – research development. Rutgers University had just hired a handful of research development professionals at the time, and, together, we discovered NORDP. That was the organization I was searching for – the one that offered advice, networking and camaraderie in the field.
I attended my first NORDP conference through the generous support of the NORDP travel scholarship. Naturally, I felt the need to “pay it back” by volunteering in every aspect that I could. Volunteering is a wonderful way to network and get to know people – even people from my own institution that I may not get to see as often as I would like. I continue to be impressed by the diversity, talent, and dedication of the people who are attracted to this field.
Conferences allow me to immerse myself in research development and to discuss challenges I may be having with colleagues from other institutions. While many of us feel like islands at our institutions, being one research development professional amidst a sea of faculty and administrators, we are all “stranded” together on that island during a NORDP conference.
It’s one week away, and I am truly looking forward to meeting new colleagues, sharing ideas, and learning from others’ experiences.
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We hope to see you at the 2017 NORDP Research Development Conference, which will be held May 8-10 in Denver, CO. For more information about the conference program or to register, visit http://www.nordp.org/conferences. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2017 updates.
If you’d like to be featured in a Conference Cameo, let us know at rdconf@nordp.org.
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